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Welcome to Stargazing

At the Vulcan Trek Center Friday, April 08th, 2016 TONIGHT On the Bridge Inside On the Telescope Outside

Mercury/Sun Transit Jupiter &

Lyrid’s Waxing Crescent

Spotting Which one is this?

Star Trek in the Sky Our guests show off their pics

The Whirlpool (M51) Lagoon (M8)/Triffid (M20) Our Sun flaring under a filter Courtesy of RASC Members/Astro Photographers Norm & Rosemarie Baum-Carmangay, Alberta.

STILL CAN’T GET ENOUGH? TURNOVER FOR MORE Diehards!-Here’s extra Stargazing Events

With the RASC Calgary Up in the Sky Happenings Around Vulcan & Area http://calgary.rasc.ca www.vulcantourism.com RASC April Meeting Astrophysics on the Cutting Edge: Vul-Con Come out and meet the members. Guest Rothney Observatory Open House Vulcan’s own Comic Con Nicholas Davis speaks on “Spera solida magna': a Mediaeval astronomical Discoveries in physics are occurring at an mystery” The presentation describes a incredible pace. University of Calgary little known European celestial globe, students will speak on the latest, fastest, following up artistic, astronomical and smallest and most fascinating new research other clues that suggest this is the earliest in physics. surviving example of its class. Thursday, April 17th starting at 19:30- th 21:30 followed by refreshments. 20:00-23:00 Saturday, April 09 , 2016 Saturday/Sunday July 09/10th, 2016 FREE! The Kerby Centre, 1133 7thAvenue SW, SELLS OUT FAST! Calgary, Ab. $20 per car OR $10 per person www.ucalgary.ca/rao/ N.O.V.A. (New Observers to Visual RASC at Calgary Comin Expo Spock Days Astronomy) at Wilson Coulee Observatory The RASC will be at Stampede Park all NOVA is to provide information and weekend; over 450,000 sq. ft. of things to instruction to new and beginner level see! amateur astronomers. Each participant will also be given a list of items to Thursday, April 28th & Sunday May 01st observe during the time between monthly 2016 all day th meetings. This will allow members to From $5 per person, kids 7 and under Friday/Sunday June 10/12 , 2016 practice some of the things that they have FREE! learned during each session. Friday, May 06th, 2016@20:00-23:00 FREE! http://calgaryexpo.com/ http://calgary.rasc.ca/nova.htm OUR NEXT MEETING Friday, May 13th, 2016 At the Vulcan Trek Centre 19:30

Your Hosts Are

For The RASC Calgary For Vulcan Tourism Roland Deschene-Astronomy Teacher & RASC Councilor Devan Daniels-Center Manager Karl Ivarson Jr.-Telescope Operator & Technician Shannon Clarke- Assistant Manager Neel Roberts-Public Relations Karen Haller-Evening Co-ordinator Purchasing Your First Telescope? ***starting under $99.99-All types available*** Ken & Bev From Toll Free: (866) 310-8844, 31020 Hwy. 2A, Didsbury, Alberta. Helping People Discover the Wonders of the Night Sky www.all-startelescope.com Courtesy of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (Calgary) in Vulcan http://calgary.rasc.ca/vulcan2016.htm Held the second Friday monthly at the Vulcan Trek Center, 115 Centre Street East, Vulcan, Ab. (403) 485-2994. 100% Locally Run & Operated Psssst!!---Tell Our Bosses how we Did! Robyn Foret; President RASC Calgary Centre- [email protected] Tom Grant; Mayor of Vulcan- [email protected] CHART FOR MID-LATITUDES OF THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE What’s Out Tonight? OPTIMIZED FOR

12 HOURS

AFTER SUNSET April 2016 Sky Chart

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will ble Start ou when D star thatwo 0x One through5 a Cluster become The position of any visible, naked-eye Magn bula itudes Starbular Cluster Ne viewed Glo telescopeto 100x. at is indicated for the 15th of the –1 1 netary 0 So on Pla month with a size matching its magni- 23 uth Horiz 4 tude. If the planet moves significatnly Galaxy during a month, other positions will April 2016 Planet Notes be noted with dates. The ECLIPTIC is the path of the Sun through the Venus, shining at magnitude –3.9 is not really visible because it rises in Distances planets are from the this month: the east about 30 minutes before the Sun. Mars, shining bright at mag- sky but the planets and Moon move Venus: 154,000,000 miles, Mars: 63,000,000 miles nitude –1.0, rises around midnight, above the red star Antares in Sco- Jupiter: 432,000,000 miles, Saturn: 868,000,000 miles. along it, too. It passes through prius. Jupiter, below , shining at magnitude –2.4 is visible almost all the of the . night. Saturn, at magnitude +0.3, rises around midnight near the top of the constellation Scoprius and is not far and east of Mars. April Notes Brightest Stars The bright Winter constellations of /MINOR, Aldebaran. In . Magnitude +1. Distance: 65 ly. Orange ORION, GEMINI, TAURUS and hover in the west. Orion’s 45 times the diamter of our Sun. Betelgeuse, with Sirius and Procyon, form the Winter Trian- Arcturus. In BOOTES. Magnitude –0.04. Distance: 37 ly. gle. At the top of the sky is LEO with its reverse question mark Diameter: 26 times the Sun’s. It’s an Orange Giant. (the Sickle) punctuated by the kingly star, Regulus. The Big Dip- Betelgeuse. In ORION. Magnitude +0.56. Distance: 428 ly. per is due north of LEO (their “backs” face each other). The han- Red Supergiant with a diameter 650 times the Sun‘s. dle of the dipper curves and points to the star Arcturus in Capella. In AURIGA. Magnitude +0.1. Distance: 42 ly. BOOTES and if you continue the curve, you will encounter Spica Diameter: 15 times the Sun’s. It’s actually 4 orbiting stars. Castor. In GEMINI. Magnitude +1.6. Distance: 52 ly. in . In front of Leo is CANCER containing the Beehive sprin- Favorite that is twice the diameter of the Sun. kle of stars and to Leo’s rear is another sprinkle of stars in Coma Polaris. In . Magnitude +2. Distance: 431 ly. Berenices. Both sprinkles can be seen easily with binoculars. 2,400 times brighter than the Sun. . Pollux. In GEMINI. Magnitude +1.2. Distance: 34 ly. Clusters, Nebulae, Galaxies + Diameter is 8.8 times the Sun’s & 46 times brighter. ly = Light year, a unit of distance. 1 ly = 6 trillion miles. Procyon. In . Magnitude +0.4. Distance: 11.4 ly. Cluster. Distance: 600 ly / Diameter: 31 ly / Diameter is 2 times the Sun’s & 7.5 times brighter. Castor Double Star. Favorite double star. Need a telescope with Rigel. In ORION. Magnitude +1.3. Distance: 3200 ly. 50x to 100x to see Castor separate into two stars. Magni- Diameter: 222 times the Sun’s. Blue-White Supergiant. tudes of two stars are 1.9 and 3.0. In GEMINI. Sirius. Rising in CANIS MAJOR. Magnitude –1.44. Distance: 8.6 ly. Double Cluster. Two side-by-side clusters. Distances: 7,200 ly / The very brightest star in the whole sky but some planets, like Diameters: 63 ly / Mag 3.5 / Span 1° / 320 stars total. Best in Jupiter and Venus, are brighter. It has a diameter 1.8 times that a telescope but visible with eyes in dark skies. In . of the Sun and is 23 times brighter. 7th closest star to us. M35. Cluster. Distance: 3000 ly / Diameter: 24 ly / Mag 5 / Spans Spica. In VIRGO. Magnitude +1.1. Distance: 262 ly. Actually two 28' / 200 stars. In GEMINI. close stars revolving around each other in 4 days. M34. Large Cluster. Distance: 1,400 ly / Diameter: 14 ly / Mag 5.2 / Spans 35' / 60 stars. Try with binoculars, too. In PERSEUS. Mythology M36. Cluster. Distance: 3,700 ly / Diameter: 13 ly / Mag 6.0 / FOR THE CENTRAL CONSTELLATIONS, NORTH TO SOUTH Spans 12' / 60 stars. Try with binoculars, too. In AURIGA. Arcas and his beautiful mother, Callisto were turned into the M37. Cluster. Distance: 4,200 ly / Diameter: 29 ly / Mag 5.6 / Little and Big Bears, URSA MINOR and MAJOR because of jeal- Spans 24' / 150 stars. Try with binoculars, too. In AURIGA. ous Juno, wife of promiscuous Jupiter. M42. Orion Nebula. Brightest nebula in the northern sky. About During a war between the Titans and Olympians, , the 30 ly in diameter and 1,760 ly away. Mag 4 / Spans 1°. Dragon was flung to the North and frozen in place by the cold. M44. Beehive Cluster. Distance: 610 ly / Diameter: 16 ly / Regulus, the brightest star in LEO, the Lion has several mean- Mag 3 / Spans 1.6° / 50 stars. In CANCER. ings including regal, king and mighty. Before him is CANCER, M81/82. Bode’s Galaxies. Visible in many light polluted skies. the Crab sent to prevent from killing the nine-headed M82 shaped like a cigar. Mags 6.8/8.1. In . HYDRA as one of his twelve labors toward a virtuous . M104. Sombrero Galaxy. Distance: 48 million ly / Diameter: 126,000 ly / Mag 8.1 / Spans 9'. In VIRGO. CORVUS was a bird placed in the heavens on Hydra’s back by Pleiades. Cluster. Spans about 2° in sky or 4 Moon diameters. Apollo for being slow for bringing water and lying about his tar- To the eyes, it looks like a little dipper but it is NOT the Little diness. represents the container of water that is always Dipper! Distance: 440 ly / Diameter: 15 ly / Mag 1.2 / 100 out of reach of Corvus. stars. In TAURUS. VELA is the sail of the once giant constellation, , sailed by Jason, that was divided into parts by Lacaille in 1763. Observing Tips , & SEXTANTS were constellations added in If possible, observe at a dark location and when the Moon is 1690 and ANTILIA in1763. not bright. A bright Moon will make it more difficult to see the stars and impossible to see clusters, nebulae and galaxies. Only April Moon Phases a small telescope at lower magnifications, around 50x, is required New Moon. Thursday, April 7, 6:24 am, CDT to see the objects listed above. The planets and Moon are best First Quarter. Wednesday, April 13, 10:59 pm, CDT observed with a telescope around 100x. To get a feel for the size Full Moon. Friday, April 22, 12:24 pm, CDT of objects, the Moon extends 30' (30 arc minutes). The binocu- Third or Last Quarter. Friday, April 29, 10:20 pm, CDT lar objects are best with binoculars because these objects are large in size—telescopes have too much magnification. What’s Out Tonight? Meteor Showers April 2016 Sky Chart Visit: WhatsOutTonight.com The LYRIDS peak around April 22 with 15–20 meteors/hour. Copyright ©2016 by Ken Graun. All rights reserved. Email: [email protected] • Phone: (520) 743-3200 STAR CHART FOR MID-LATITUDES OF THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE What’s Out Tonight? OPTIMIZED FOR 12 HOURS

AFTER SUNSET May 2016 Sky Chart

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PUPPIS DRA HY IS PYX LUP Menke nt U S CE NTAURU S Nice NGC ocular 5128 n Bi Object Omega VELA Centauri will ble Start ou when Planets D star thatwo er One through50x a become The position of any visible, naked-eye Magn Cluster x. itudes Star ular Clustebula viewed ob N telescopeto 100 at planet is indicated for the 15th of the –1 1 Gl netary 0 So zon Pla month with a size matching its magni- 234 uth Hori Nebula tude. If the planet moves significatnly Galaxy during a month, other positions will May 2016 Planet Notes be noted with dates. The ECLIPTIC is the path of the Sun through the Venus, shining at magnitude –3.9 is not visible because it rises imme- Distances planets are from the Earth this month: diately before the Sun. Mars, shining brightly at magnitude –1.9, rises sky but the planets and Moon move Venus: 83,000,000 miles, Mars: 48,000,000 miles in the east at sunset, and is at the top of the constellation . Jupiter: 469,000,000 miles, Saturn: 842,000,000 miles. along it, too. It passes through Jupiter, below Leo, shining at magnitude –2.1 is at the top of the sky at the constellations of the zodiac. sunset. Saturn, at magnitude +0.1, rises in the east about one hour after sunset, just behind Mars, at the top of Scorpius. May Notes Brightest Stars Near the top of the sky are two promenent constellations, LEO Antares. In SCOPRIUS. Magnitude +1.1. Distance: 604 ly. with its reverse question mark, the Sickle, punctuated by the Diameter: 300 times the Sun’s. Red Supergiant. kingly star, Regulus, and URSA MAJOR, containing the Big Dip- Arcturus. In BOOTES. Magnitude –0.04. Distance: 37 ly. per (the “backs” of Leo and the Big Dipper face each other). The Diameter: 26 times the Sun’s. It’s an Orange Giant. handle of the dipper curves and points to the star Arcturus in Capella. In AURIGA. Magnitude +0.1. Distance: 42 ly. BOOTES and continuing the curve, points to Spica in VIRGO. In Diameter: 15 times the Sun’s. It’s actually 4 orbiting stars. front of Leo is CANCER containing the sprinkle of stars known as Castor. In GEMINI. Magnitude +1.6. Distance: 52 ly. the Beehive. Less known and to Leo’s rear, is another sprinkle of Favorite double star that is twice the diameter of the Sun. Deneb. In . Magnitude +1.3. Distance:about1500 ly. stars in . Both sprinkles can be seen easily with Burning fast & might supernova in a few million years. binoculars and appear, to the eyes, as fuzzy patches in dark skies. Polaris. In URSA MINOR. Magnitude +2. Distance: 431 ly. At one time, the Beehive was thought of as the whiskers of Leo 2,400 times brighter than the Sun. Supergiant star. with the sprinkle of stars in Coma Berenices as the end of its tail. Pollux. In GEMINI. Magnitude +1.2. Distance: 34 ly. Diameter is 8.8 times the Sun’s & 46 times brighter. Clusters, Nebulae, Galaxies + Procyon. In CANIS MINOR. Magnitude +0.4. Distance: 11.4 ly. ly = Light year, a unit of distance. 1 ly = 6 trillion miles. Diameter is 2 times the Sun’s & 7.5 times brighter. Castor Double Star. Favorite double star. Need a telescope with Regulus. In Leo. Magnitude +1.4. Distance: 78 ly. 50x to 100x to see Castor separate into two stars. Magni- Diameter: 3.5 times the Sun’s & 140 times brighter. tudes of two stars are 1.9 and 3.0. In GEMINI. Spica. In VIRGO. Magnitude +1.1. Distance: 262 ly. Actually two Coma Cluster. Sprinkle of 40+ stars. Appears as a faint haze in close stars revolving around each other in 4 days. dark skies. Spans 4.5°. In COMA BERENICES. Vega. In . Magnitude +0.0. Distance: 25 ly. Rotates on axis M13. . Distance: 21,000 ly / Diameter: 104 ly / once ever 12.5 hours. Mass is about 2.3 times our Sun. Mag 5.8 / Spans 17'. Contains 500,000 stars. In HERCULES. M35. Cluster. Distance: 3000 ly / Diameter: 24 ly / Mag 5 / Spans May Mythology 28' / 200 stars. In GEMINI. FOR THE CENTRAL CONSTELLATIONS, NORTH TO SOUTH M36. Cluster. Distance: 3,700 ly / Diameter: 13 ly / Mag 6.0 / Arcas and his beautiful mother, Callisto were turned into the Spans 12' / 60 stars. Try with binoculars, too. In AURIGA. Little and Big Bears, URSA MINOR and MAJOR because of jeal- M37. Cluster. Distance: 4,200 ly / Diameter: 29 ly / Mag 5.6 / ous Juno, wife of promiscuous Jupiter. Spans 24' / 150 stars. Try with binoculars, too. In AURIGA. During a war between the Titans and Olympians, DRACO, the M44. Beehive Cluster. Distance: 610 ly / Diameter: 16 ly / Dragon was flung to the North and frozen in place by the cold. Mag 3 / Spans 1.6° / 50 stars. In CANCER. Regulus, the brightest star in LEO, the Lion has several mean- M51. Whirlpool Galaxy. Distance: 37 million ly / Diameter: 118,000 ly / Mag 8.1 / Spans 11'. In . ings including regal, king and mighty. Before him is CANCER, M81/82. Bode’s Galaxies. Visible in many light polluted skies. the Crab sent to prevent HERCULES from killing the nine-headed M82 shaped like a cigar. Mags 6.8/8.1. In URSA MAJOR. HYDRA as one of his twelve labors toward a virtuous life. M104. Sombrero Galaxy. Distance: 48 million ly / Diameter: CORVUS was a bird placed in the heavens on Hydra’s back by 126,000 ly / Mag 8.1 / Spans 9'. In VIRGO. Apollo for being slow for bringing water and lying about his tar- Mizar. Two stars with good eyes or binoculars. Three stars with a diness. CRATER represents the container of water that is always telescope at 50x. Located in the handle of the Big Dipper. out of reach of Corvus. Omega Centauri. Largest Globular Cluster! Distance: 17,000 ly / When VIRGO, the Virgin is in the night sky, crops grow. The Diameter: 5 ly / Mag 3.7 / Spans 30'+. Contains 1 million growing season ends when, in the early evening, she sets on the stars. Looks like a faint star. Best in scope. In . western horizon. CANES VENATICI are the Hunting Dogs of BOOTES who is Observing Tips sometimes seen as a Ploughman. is the If possible, observe at a dark location and when the Moon is crown of Bacchus, the god of wine. not bright. A bright Moon will make it more difficult to see the May Moon Phases stars and impossible to see clusters, nebulae and galaxies. Only a small telescope at lower magnifications, around 50x, is required New Moon. Friday, May 6, 2:30 pm, CDT to see the objects listed above. The planets and Moon are best First Quarter. Friday, May 13, 12:02 pm, CDT observed with a telescope around 100x. To get a feel for the size Full Moon. Saturday, May 21, 4:15 pm, CDT of objects, the Moon extends 30' (30 arc minutes). The binocu- Third or Last Quarter. Sunday, May 29, 7:12 am, CDT lar objects are best with binoculars because these objects are large in size—telescopes have too much magnification. What’s Out Tonight? Meteor Showers May 2016 Sky Chart Visit: WhatsOutTonight.com The Eta AQUARIDS peak around May 5 with 60 meteors/hour. Copyright ©2016 by Ken Graun. All rights reserved. Email: [email protected] • Phone: (520) 743-3200 What’s Out Tonight? Sky Chart Supplement Clusters, Nebulae & Galaxies Planets An is a group of several to hundreds of stars The planets are best observed with a telescope using magnifi- that were born out of the same nebula cloud. A group often forms cations from 50x to 200x. The five naked-eye planets are Mer- a pretty pattern. The Pleiades and Praesepe are great examples. cury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Venus is extremely bright Open clusters reside in our Milky Way Galaxy. Our Sun is no and hugs close to the Sun, so you see it for a short time in the longer in its group. west after sunset or in the east before sunrise. Jupiter can be out Globular Clusters look like fuzzy balls because they contain all night and always outshines any star. Everyone enjoys its 4 tens of thousands stars held together by their mutual gravity. All Galilean moons and cloud bands, easily visible at 50x. It is pos- of the globulars that can be seen in the sky are part of our Milky sible to see the moons with well-focused binoculars. Saturn is Way Galaxy, and there are about 200 of them that surround our everyone’s favorite because of its beautiful rings. Mars gets close galaxy like a halo. M22 in SAGITTARIUS is a northern favorite. to Earth about every 2 years at which time it is very bright. This A Planetary Nebula is an old term that has nothing to do is the best time to observe it but you need higher magnifi- At with the planets. Instead, it is a round or symmetrical neb- arm’s cations around 150x to see the surface coloration. length... ula that is the shed atmosphere of a dying star. At its center Distance is a white dwarf star. When our Sun dies, it will create a plan- Diameter Rotation Revolution In Miles Its Day from Sun Its Year etary nebula. These objects have diameters of a few light In Miles years and are located in our galaxy. The Ring Nebula, M57, SUN 865,000 30 days— — One thumb MERCURY 3,032 59 days 36,000,000 88 days in LYRA is a favorite. width is 4 Moon A Nebula is a giant gas cloud that is located in diameters. VENUS 7,521 243 days 67,000,000 225 days EARTH 7,926 24 hours 93,000,000 365 days our galaxy. Within these clouds, concentrations of gas can MARS 4,228 24.6 hours 142,000,000 687 days occur and gravitationally condense to form stars and ac- JUPITER 88,844 9.8 hours 484,000,000 11.8 years companying planets. A set of stars created by a nebula is SATURN 74,900 10.2 hours 887,000,000 29 years Orion’s height is known as an Open Cluster. The Orion Nebula, M42 is a fa- one hand span. URANUS 31,764 17.9 hours 1,800,000,000 84 years vorite. The nebulae we can see are inside our galaxy. NEPTUNE 30,777 19.2 hours 2,800,000,000 164 years Galaxies contain billions of stars. All galaxies are beyond PLUTO 1,433 6.4 days 3,700,000,000 248 years The width of a our Milky Way Galaxy, where our Sun resides. When you are fist spans the observing a galaxy, you are looking through our galaxy into Big Dipper’s bowl. Light Year (ly) & Nearest Stars the true depths of the . The Andromeda Galaxy, M31 A Light Year (ly) is a unit of length and is equal to the dis- can be seen with the naked eye. tance light travels in one year. Since light moves at the rate of Double Stars Our 186,282 miles a second, one light year is nearly 6 trillion miles Moon long. The closest nighttime star visible to the naked eye is A Double Star is a star that looks like one star but Alpha (a) Centauri in the constellation CENTARUS. Plato when magnified sufficiently (from 6x to 200x), it SINUS IRIDUM Alpha Centauri shines brightly at magnitude –0.01 separates into two or more stars. Some are very MARE OCEAN SERENITY PROCELLARUM and is just 4.4 light years away. The very closest star MARE pretty because of contrasting colors. Castor in CRISIUM MARE TRANQUILITY is Proxima in CENTARUS at just 4.22 ly away. It is GEMINI is a favorite and Albireo in CYGNUS is Kepler Copernicus too faint to see with the eyes because it shines at well liked for its blue & gold colors. Ptolemaeus Alphonsus magnitude +11. The second closest star visible to Straight Wall the naked eye is Sirius at 8.6 ly followed by Epsilon Moon e Tycho ( ) Eridani at 10.5 ly and Procyon at 11.4 ly. There Starting from New Moon, the Moon cycles through are several stars closer than these three but they are phases every 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, 3 seconds. too faint to be seen with the naked eye. It is 2,160 miles in diameter and averages 239,000 miles from Earth. A New Moon is not visible in the sky because the Moon is po- Guide to the Stars sitioned very close to the Sun. Solar eclipses occur at New Moon. • 11-inch diameter, ISBN 1-928771-03-3 • 16-inch diameter, ISBN 1-928771-01-7 The best time to observe the Moon is during a phase because the • Equatorial, ISBN 1-928771-77-7 • Southern Hemisphere, ISBN 1-928771-11-4 craters appear their sharpest near the terminator, the line that sep- • Kid’s, ISBN 1-928771-22-X arates the lighted side (day side) from the dark side (night side). kenpress.com Cycle of Moon Phases What’s Out Tonight? Sky Charts From To NEW NEW MOON MOON Visit: WhatsOutTonight.com WAXING FIRST WAXING FULL WANING LAST WANING Copyright ©2016 by Ken Graun. All rights reserved. CRESCENT QUARTER GIBBOUS MOON GIBBOUS QUARTER CRESCENT Email: [email protected] • Phone: (520) 743-3200 STARGAZERS WANTED Do you want to take pictures like these with your smartphone?

Day shot of Saturn Night picture of full Moon Jupiter and it’s 4 Moons Snapped with a Samsung Note 3 through our 11” Celestron Telescope JOIN US Friday, May 13th, 2016 starting at 19:30 -Short Presentation followed by gazing through our scopes. -Free refreshments. -Show us your pics. ALL WELCOME-NEVER A CHARGE

Courtesy of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (Calgary) in Vulcan http://calgary.rasc.ca/vulcan2016.htm

Held the second Friday monthly at the Vulcan Trek Center, 115 Centre Street East, Vulcan, Ab. (403) 485-2994.

www.vulcantourism.com

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